Rehabilitation for demilitarization

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Israel Defense Forces was likely to complete on Sunday the task of neutralizing Hamas' tunnels and redeploying along the border with the Gaza Strip. After this, it is expected that the IDF will halt its strikes in Gaza and only renew them in response to Hamas attacks.

In the short-term, some Israeli troops will remain inside Gaza, near the border, to serve as a rapid reaction force. The withdrawal process will take a number of days (as it did at the end of the Second Lebanon War). It could be expedited if the talks in Cairo lead to a cease-fire or a formal truce agreement.

The Israeli troops who remain in Gaza will stay in areas within several hundred meters of the border. To avoid friction with the local population and reduce the risk of being attacked, they will not enter populated areas. The rest of the Israeli troops mobilized for Operation Protective Edge will remain in staging areas near Gaza (but outside of mortar range), ready to renew activities inside Gaza, if necessary.

Even after the IDF fully withdraws from Gaza, a large number of Israeli troops will likely remain in the communities near the Gaza border, in an effort to abate the criticism of local mayors and calm the fears of local residents. While Israel has not officially declared this, the defense establishment believes that all 31 attack tunnels dug under the border by Hamas have been neutralized. It would take Hamas several years to rebuild the infrastructure that has been destroyed. IDF officials unanimously agree that if more tunnels are found or further digging is detected, the IDF will immediately act to eliminate the threat, even if this means a renewal of fighting in Gaza.

Israel will seek to have the tunnel and rocket issues included in any arrangement about the future of Gaza -- "rehabilitation for demilitarization," as it is being called now. This framework entails the rebuilding of Gaza in exchange for a strict supervisory mechanism that prevents the strengthening of Gaza terrorist groups. Israel is interested in forming a broad coalition (including the U.S., Europe, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority) that will aid Gaza civilians, and, by extension, hurt the Hamas regime. Such a move might also help defuse criticism of Israel, in light of the scope of the death and destruction in Gaza in recent weeks.

It appears that Hamas was surprised by Israel's unilateral move toward bringing an end to the fighting, as well as by the loss of the remaining support Hamas had in the world. The attack in which Second Lt. Hadar Goldin was kidnapped (the IDF declared Goldin dead on Sunday night) prompted not only an unprecedented response, in terms of speed and harshness, from U.S. President Barack Obama, but it also caused most Arab nations who were taking part in the cease-fire efforts to turn a cold shoulder to Hamas. This may be why Hamas tried to distance itself from the kidnapping, as what normally would have been a strategic achievement for the group turned into a significant hindrance for it.

At first, Israel weighed characterizing Goldin as a "prisoner of war," which would have entitled him to greater rights than a kidnapped soldier and might have lead to an exchange of prisoners and bodies at the end of the fighting. Eventually, it was decided not to do so, for numerous reasons, including the fact that prisoners of war are held by countries, not terrorist groups.

On Saturday night, Chief Military Rabbi Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz and the head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, Maj. Gen. Orna ‎Barbivai, visited the Goldin family. It was later announced that Goldin had been declared dead.

The kidnapping of Goldin lead to extensive military activities in the Rafah neighborhood of Gaza, but Israel decided not to use the kidnapping to expand Operation Protective Edge. Despite the statements of some MKs and public demands, the Diplomatic-Cabinet decided to stick to the original goals of the operation. The message was clear: In war, there are deaths, injuries, prisoners and missing soldiers. Such was the case in past wars, and such is the case now. Despite the pain, Israel has never changed its military objectives due to kidnappings, and Israel rightly decided to act similarly now.

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